


Comfort

by Steph_R94



Series: Try Me [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XIII-2
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 18:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1315237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph_R94/pseuds/Steph_R94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lightning had been there for him during his time of need. Now it was his turn to return her the favor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:: The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy and characters belong to Square Enix.

Lightning walked down the stair well of the home they all shared. After so many years away from one another, Serah was reluctant to part from Snow, Lightning, and even Noel. She wanted them close to her. There was a reason she was fleeing from her room tonight. Serah wanted Snow _especially_ close to her. The sounds coming from inside that room were enough to make Lightning want to kill Snow. So, to avoid that, she fled to the safest room in the house: the patio. It over looked the beautiful night sky. Serah had talked Snow into installing a hammock instead of purchasing a bench. At night, it was amazing, but during the day-it hurt. Lightning was at the screen door when she realized that she was not the only one wanting to escape tonight. Noel lay in the white hammock. His strong arms were crossed behind his head. One leg was draped over the hammock at the knee and the other was bent at the knee in the middle to keep him balanced. His weapons, Lightning noticed with approval, weren’t very far from him. At hearing the screen door slide open, Noel popped one blue eye open. Lightning nodded toward him and came further out onto the patio.

_‘I’d missed this…in Valhalla.’_ Lightning thought to herself as she stared up at the night sky above her. Her one true love in school had been astronomy. She had amused Serah for hours telling her the stories of all the constellations. _‘I wonder if she still remembers…’_ At the thought of remembering, her eyes wandered back to Noel. His blue eyes were still locked on the night sky, but there was a haze over them as if he were lost in memories. His lips were set in a small frown. He looked so dejected and sad.

“Something the matter?” Lightning didn’t understand what possessed her to ask. Maybe it was seeing him like that reminded her of a little of Hope right before he cried. Noel glanced over at her now.

“It’s nothing,” he stated. Lightning stayed silent. Her experience with men—mainly Snow and Hope—convinced her that he would come to her in time. So, she turned her eyes back to the stars. “My feelings for Yeul are fading…” Lightning knew better than to say anything. Any other man that would have made feel better, but Noel-she realized-was different. His love for Yeul was the dedicated kind. So the idea that those feelings were fading disturbed him greatly. Lightning had decided a long time ago in Valhalla that Yeul was an idiot.

_‘It’s probably healthier for him to have his feelings fade than to fight to hold onto it. Yeul, from what I gathered, is never the same girl in personality. She knows of Noel, but whatever they once had is gone.’_ A sharp stab of sympathy washed through her. _‘Each time they met, he would have to face the reality that his Yeul was gone.’_

Instead of speaking words of comfort as Serah would have done, Lightning did something that surprised him. She avoided the topic of his fading feelings. She gave him something else to think about.

“Did you ever have an astronomy class back in your time?” She asked.

“No,” Noel returned. “Hadn’t needed it.” From that point on, the night consisted of Lightning pointing out constellations to him. Noel would tilt his head at every angle in the attempt to see it, but he failed.

“Well, what do you see?” Lightning made the mistake of asking once. The lesson then turned into a contest of who could make the other laugh the hardest. By the time morning came, Noel had forgotten all about his worries of Yeul.

Serah and Snow found their friends asleep outside in the hammock. Their backs were pressed against one another. Both sets of legs were stretched out in front their bodies to keep the hammock steady. Lightning’s head was dipped back onto Noel’s shoulder. His head was resting against the side of her head gently.

Serah glanced at her future husband and smiled. She held her delicate hand up to her lips and motioned for him to be quiet. He nodded and followed her out into the house.

“That was sooo cute!” Serah cooed once they were inside. Snow didn’t really know what to think. Both of his friends had been alone for so long. It would be good for them to have someone, but he just really couldn’t think of Lightning as a loving partner. Hell, he had a hard time thinking of her as a woman sometimes. He was fairly certain Noel needed both.

 

* * *

 

_A Week Later…_

* * *

               The summer night was hotter than most before it, but the temperature did not bother Lightning. In fact, despite the heavy heat, she was shivering. She pulled her legs tight against her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them. She willed herself not to cry even a little bit.

               “It was just a dream,” she whispered to herself the same thing she told Serah over and over again after a nightmare.

               In the hallway, Noel stopped. The whisper reached his ears just as easily as the breeze that was coming in from the window brushed over him.

               “Lightning?” He called softly through the doorway. “You okay?” he asked as he pushed the door open the rest of the way. Lightning’s head snapped up. Noel looked at her. His blue eyes held a large amount of concern. She allowed it to warm her.

               “Noel? Why are you awake?” She asked. The sun wasn’t even out yet. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand beside her. It read 3 a.m. She blinked and looked back toward the young man. He held up a glass of tea as if in explanation. “Ah…” She muttered.

               “Wanna talk about it?” He asked as he hovered at her doorway. Lightning studied him for a moment. He had confessed what was bothering him; it was only fair that she do the same.

               _‘It’ll probably help if you get it off your chest…’_ Her thoughts sounded suspiciously like Serah at that moment. It was something her sister had said to her many times over the years. She hated it when Lightning kept it all in. So, with that thought in mind, Lightning waved Noel in. She kept her eyes on him as he sank down onto the end of her queen sized bed. _‘My sister is slowly making me a people person…’_ Lightning realized with only a little distain. _‘First I’m all affectionate toward Hope, friendly with Fang, give Snow my blessing…now I’m inviting Noel into my room to talk about my nightmares…what’s next?’_

Noel waited patiently for Lightning to be ready to talk. He scanned her room in the meantime. The colors had surprised him slightly. They were warm and comforting to him. They reminded him vaguely of home. The walls were a charming brown. It wasn’t too dark nor too light. He could see mixes of red and yellow inside the paint. Her floors were hardwood, but she had the fur of a light coated bear underneath her bed. The cream colored bed cover was tangled around her legs. She pulled a hand through her long pink hair and sighed.

“I dreamt of Valhalla…and Caius,” She told him. Noel’s entire body tensed; he glanced over at her. His blue eyes were dampened by dulled pain. “The entire time I was in Valhalla it was spend mostly fighting him…”

_“Lightning’s been gone for three years!”_ Noel recalled the man, Gadot, saying.

“You fought Caius for three years…without pause…didn’t you?” Noel asked quietly. Lightning nodded.

“In Valhalla, you can’t die, can’t feel pain…but your body remembers...” Noel’s eyes widened at the revelation. “…Vaguely what all of it feels like. So, it’s not really a nightmare...but a memory.” She didn’t have to finish; he had gathered enough from her whispers as to of what she was dreaming. He reached over and breeched boundaries again. Noel wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer into his side. Lightning’s eyes widened in shock at the motion.

“How long have you been having these dreams?” Noel asked. His tone was gentle and curious. Lightning fell silent for a moment, debating on whether or not to answer the question. Then she was reminded: he had been honest with her that night. He had never lied to her or tried to skim around the truth. He deserved the same treatment.

“Ever since I returned…” She whispered. Noel’s body tensed slightly. That had been three months ago. One minute she wasn’t there and Serah was crying. A solemn Snow had been attempting to steer Serah into one of the bedroom to lie down before she made herself sick. The three were in for a major surprise. Lightning had been lying in her bed as if she had always been there.

_“Lightning!”_ Serah had squealed. Lightning had shot up from the bed. Her green eyes widened as they landed on her younger sister; then Noel had been greeted by one of the prettiest sights. Lightning had smiled widely. Serah had launched herself into her sister’s arms. Snow soon followed. The larger blonde had lifted both girls up off of the bed. Noel backed out the room as he had felt very much like an intruder on the reunion. Still, he had hovered in the hallway with a small smile on his lips. Lightning had found him later.

_“Thank you,”_ she had whispered to him as she jerked him into a quick hug. His eyes had widened. He had fought with the thought of whether to hug her back or not. His arms mimicked that thought reaching for her, but not quiet touching her.

_“No problem,”_ he had answered. He had jerked his arms back to his side when she had let him go. He had scratched his head as he said, _“I’m glad you’re okay…”_  

“You are the strongest woman I know,” Noel praised her gently, “but you don’t always have to be. There’s no shame in admitting you’re afraid…we can’t help you if you don’t tell us what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours.” Lightning nodded against his shoulder. She was still too overcome to speak. Noel was telling her what Serah and Snow had told her before, but it was the way he was saying it that made her tongue experience paralysis. She wasn’t fighting now. She wasn’t commanding a frightened group of people. She was simply fighting a nightmare. There was nothing admirable about that, but Noel made it sound as though it was the greatest achievement she had made.

Noel saw it different however. He saw the woman that had been thrown into the role of Etro’s guardian so soon after losing two of her closest friends. She hadn’t had a chance or the time to grieve for them. She had been taken away from her sister so soon after being reunited. In his eyes it wasn’t her achievements on the field that were testament to her strength; it was her ability to carry on. So many people, himself included, got trapped in the past. They wanted to stay inside those happier memories so that they didn’t have to face reality. Lightning was a woman that forced herself too because she knew that the world would continue to turn on no matter her problems. Time didn’t stop just because one wanted it too. Yeul had taught him that lesson, but he was still struggling to get to the point of letting go.

“I don’t know how to word it…” She whispered. It took Noel a moment to realize what she was talking about then it clicked.

“Try me,” he urged softly. A small smile tugged at her lips. Noel grinned slightly. So, like she had before in his hut, she did. She tried her hand at explaining how the fight had went on for three years without end, how Caius had injured her so many times. She told him of all the times Caius had nearly succeeded in killing her. In front of him, she relived the memories. He stayed by her side the entire time like an anchor. “You aren’t there anymore,” he told her softly once she had finished. He slipped a hand underneath her chin and tilted her head so that she could see the promise in his eyes. “And, if I have anything to say about it, you’ll never have to go there again.” His gentle words broke the dam of emotion that she had been holding back ever since her return. Tears started to leak from her eyes before she could stop them. Noel didn’t say a word as she buried her face into his shoulder. He simply held her tighter.

Lightning curled her fingers into the back of his shirt as she attempted to beat back the tears, but the more she tried the more she recalled his sweet words and the nightmares.

_‘Yeul was a complete dumb ass for leaving you…’_ Lightning thought to him. From what she had seen when she was in Valhalla, Caius would have listened to whatever Yeul had to say. Whatever Yeul wanted, he would have done. Yeul, whether she believed it or not, had a choice. Hell, the teen could see the future! She knew how Caius’ dream would turn out! Lightning tightened her hands around his shirt.

“You’re gonna be okay,” he whispered to her after about thirty minutes of listening to her cry. It hurt him to hear her cry, but it would bother him even more to leave her in this state. Not for the first time since meeting Caius, he cursed him.

“Noel…” Lightning whispered as her tears finally showed signs of drying up.

“Yeah?” He whispered back in the same low tone.

“Just shut up,” Lightning demanded. “ _Before you make me start crying again…”_ hung in the silence that fell over them. Lightning knew she could back off of him, but she didn’t want him to see her tears. She had only cried in front of two other people as hard as she had now. Those two people had been Serah and Snow. Serah had been the only one she had faced; she had hidden behind Snow’s back. Her pride demanded that she not let Noel see her tear streaked face. It was bad enough that she had used his shirt as a tissue. After a few minutes of her leaning against his shoulder, Lightning pulled away. Noel looked over at her. His blue eyes were filled with sympathy and affection for her. Lightning couldn’t help the small blush that touched her cheeks though she hated it.

“Thanks…” She whispered.

“That’s what friends are for, right?” He returned easily. Lightning smiled.

“Right…” She confirmed quietly. Noel smiled and stood from her bed with a long stretch. Lightning couldn’t help it. Her eyes roamed him. She could see the muscles in his arms rolling as he stretched them high above his head. He tilted his neck back and arched his back slightly. Her eyes roamed down his chest. She forced her eyes back up to his face as his body began to relax. _‘Friends…’_ She reminded herself as he lowered his arms back to sides. _‘I don’t think I should be this attracted to a friend. Seems unhealthy. Besides…it’s only because it’s been a while…’_ She tried to tell herself that Snow would probably look sexy to her in a few days, but the very idea of him grossed her out.

“Well, I’m going to go try and get some sleep before the bunnies wake up,” Noel said. Lightning snorted at the reference to her sister and Snow. It wasn’t very far off in description.

“You’re lucky,” Lightning commented. “You don’t have a room next to theirs.” Noel attempted to hiss sympathetically, but it just sounded like he was trying not to laugh at her.

“I would offer you my room, but I kind of like it,” he told her. “It’s got a nice view.”

“Keep on. I’ll just kick you out of it and take it anyway,” Lightning returned. “Then you can deal with listening to dying cows.”

“You could try,” Noel said. He shrugged. “I have no desire to listen to…how did you describe them…dying cows? Actually that description makes me only want to fight harder to keep my room…” A female moan escaped through the wall. Noel’s blue eyes widened and snapped toward her. Lightning paled.

“Compromise?” She suggested hurriedly. Noel only stared at her. The teasing situation from earlier now very real. She refused to listen to them for another morning. “I won’t steal the covers or anything!” Noel’s lips moved but no sound escaped. Just when Lightning was thinking of leaving him there, there came another sound through the wall.

_“Oh, God! Snow!”_ Serah’s louder moan seemed to spur Noel into action. Lightning let out a small surprised noise as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her from the bed.

“Come on!” He demanded as he pulled her out of the room quickly. Lightning stared to jog to keep up with him. Noel opened his door and practically pushed her inside. Lightning let out a quiet sigh of relief that Noel echoed. The noises were muffled by the layers and layers of walls between the two rooms. Lightning turned around and glanced at Noel who was leaning against his bedroom door. Their eyes met. Instantly, they dissolved into laughter. Once they had calmed down enough to speak, Noel wheezed, “I was serious about the sleep thing though.” He said as he moved toward the bed. Lightning decided that she didn’t want to watch him climb into it much less shed any clothes. Through a rather unpleasant experience, Lightning had discovered Snow slept in the nude. She really didn’t want to know if Noel did as well. _‘Liar…’_ Her thoughts whispered. She ignored them. This was not happening. “Lightning?” He called. “I don’t bite, you know.” Lightning tensed. “Just as long as you promise not to steal the covers,” he teased. Lightning nodded.

_‘I’m tired. He’s not going to do anything. He’s still caught up on Yeul’s memory.’_ She thought herself as she slipped underneath the covers next to him. His warm thigh brushed hers as she laid down on her back. _‘Oh! Thank God! He’s still wearing pants!’_ Rose into her mind. She chuckled and shook her head.

“What?” He asked. Lightning glanced over at him. Her breath nearly froze in her lungs. He was lying on his side with one hand tucked underneath his pillow. His dark brown bangs fell over his right eye. She was close enough to him to see all of the different shades of blue his eyes held. She got distracted for a moment. It looked as though the light blue slivers were wrapping around darker blue as they crept closer to his iris.

_‘Beautiful…’_ She couldn’t help but think. His blink brought her back to the matter at hand. She couldn’t very well tell him that she had been relieved that he wasn’t naked, so she opted for another amusing thought she briefly entertained as he was pulling her down the hallway.

“Well, that day on the patio Snow and Serah found us,” Lightning reminded him, “I just can’t help but wonder what they would assume if they found us this time.” Noel chuckled.

“I imagine the sexual innuendo would drive you to murdering Snow,” he commented. Lightning hummed.

“Sexual innuendo is unneeded. Snow makes me want to kill him all on his own,” Lightning muttered as she turned her eyes to the ceiling. Noel hummed his agreement. The past nights of little sleep were wearing down on him. His blue eyes dipped closed. Beside him, Lighting’s own eyes were drooping. In minutes, both were asleep.

* * *

 

“Snow?” Serah called as she walked into the kitchen. Snow turned from the refrigerator quickly. He hid the orange juice carton he had been drinking out of behind his back. Serah hated it when he didn’t use a glass. He slid it back into the fridge with his fingertips and closed the door quietly. All thought of looking innocent fled as he took in the slightly panicked look on her face. “I can’t find Lightning anywhere. I went into her room to wake her up and she’s not there.”

“Did you check the patio?” He asked calmly. Serah’s worst nightmare was waking up and realizing that the past few months had been a lie. Snow dealt with her panic each time Lightning wasn’t in her bedroom when Serah peaked in on her. It didn’t happen often, but when it did he always had this irrational anger toward his future sister-in-law. Serah nodded. “How about the-” His words froze in his throat as another thought occurred to him. Noel and Lightning had been spending an unusual amount of time together the past few days. Just yesterday, they had been sneaking glances at one another across the room when they thought the other wasn’t looking. It was adorable, but at the same time aggravating when you are attempting to hold a conversation with one of them. “Did you check Noel’s room?” He couldn’t help but grin as he finished the sentence. Serah blinked then it clicked. She rolled her eyes heavenward.

“Noel’s room? Why on earth would she---Oh come on, Snow, seriously! You can’t possibly think-” Snow cut Serah off.

“That is exactly what I think. Come on, Serah,” he took his fiancé’s hand had pulled her up the stairs. “It can’t be that foreign of an idea to you.”

“Well no, but…Noel still loves Yeul…and Lightning is well _Lightning._ ” Serah said as they crept their way toward Noel’s room. Snow gave a small snort. He couldn’t help but agree. Lightning had sworn off all types of romance. She dissuaded men from even talking to her with a sharp glare. Snow had honestly begun to consider introducing her to some of his female friends, but he was afraid of the pain he would experience once Lightning figured out what he was insinuating.

Snow pushed the slightly jarred door open when one fingertip. His eyes widened. Serah clapped a hand over her mouth to smother her shock. Just on the bed lay Noel and Lightning. Noel was wrapped around Lightning’s body. His arm lay on top of the cover with his hand rested just on top of Lightning’s stomach. What surprised her most was Lightning looked peaceful. Serah had peaked in on Lightning many times since she returned. Each time her sister looked frightened or agitated.

“When do you think they were planning on telling us about this?” Snow whispered as they walked back out of the room.

“Honestly, Snow, they were just sleeping!”

“So were we earlier this morning,” Snow returned without missing a beat.

 

* * *

 

Lightning’s eye twitched slightly as Snow’s eyes wandered to her for what seemed like the fiftieth time. It became apparent to her that they had found Noel and her this morning. If Snow wasn’t obvious enough, Serah’s constant blushing and eye avoidance was.

“Guys, nothing happened,” Noel said from his position on the bar stool. Lightning glanced over at him. One elbow rested on the countertop and he had that closed fist underneath his chin. One blue eyes was staring at Snow and Serah because his bangs had fallen over the other one. Lightning felt her irritation swell as she thought of pushing it away. “So…stop acting all weird.” She looked away from him. The moment she looked in front of her, she met Serah’s blue eyes.

“What _were_ you doing in Noel’s room anyway, Lightning?” Serah asked as she linked her hands behind her back. Lightning blinked. The slight teasing in her sister’s tone told her that she had seen the much too long look she had given Noel. Lightning suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

“I went looking for a night of wild sex,” Lightning deadpanned. Snow sprayed his tea all over the kitchen floor. He promptly began to cough violently. A small thud told her that Noel had dropped his hand to the counter top. She could feel his blue eyes staring at her for a moment. “But he wanted to _cuddle_ ,” Lightning continued. Her lips ticked up into a smirk that gave her away. Serah sighed in exasperation while Noel laughed.

“Lightning, I’m being serious!” Serah protested. Lightning knew she was. She could see the concern in her sister’s eyes, but she just wasn’t ready to share her nightmares with Serah yet. She didn’t want to make her sister feel guilty for having her nights… _filled._ So, Lightning quirked her eyebrows and continued to tease Snow and Serah.  

“And I’m not?” Lightning shot a quick glance to Noel who was watching her with an amused smile on his lips. “How do you know I didn’t want Noel’s _hot, hot body_?” Snow snorted. Noel chuckled and shifted to face Lightning. An amused smile jumped onto her lips as Noel wiggled his eyebrows at her. She winked slowly in response. He snorted.

“Fine!” Serah groaned as she threw her hands up. Serah stepped closer to her sister so that what she had to say would only be heard by her sister. “But you will tell me eventually, right?” She whispered. Lightning nodded sharply.

               “Promise.”

 


End file.
